University of Connecticut Athletics
'Onward And Upward' For UConn Defense
8/1/2019 9:52:00 AM | Football
UConn Athletic Communications
STORRS, Conn. -- Tyler Coyle is justifiably proud to have led the UConn football team in tackles last season – 107 total, with 63 solo tackles. But, given his druthers, he'd rather not have to do it again in 2019.
Coyle (Windsor, Conn.), a junior defensive back who has been named one of the Huskies' captains for the coming season, is fully aware that if he leads the team in tackles from his position, it likely means that too many opposing running backs are getting through UConn's defensive line and linebackers. It's one area the defense is determined to improve this year.
"This off-season we really focused on the little things – technique, fundamentals," Coyle said as the Huskies began fall camp. "We got faster and stronger, but the focus on the little things will definitely help us. I've seen a huge step forward."
To a man, the UConn defense – under the direction of first-year defensive coordinator Lou Spanos – has put the difficulties of 2018 behind them. Hopefully, the growing pains of last year will pay off in 2019.
"We were playing with infants last year, guys who were just coming out of the womb and had no idea what college football was all about, and we got taken to the woodshed a few times," UConn head coach Randy Edsall said. "It wasn't any fault of those young men. They were forced into a situation that they shouldn't be held accountable for. It was something we had to do and in the long run, I felt that was going to be the best thing moving into this year. Now, you see the maturation and the growth.
"And the guy who is coordinating it all has a great way and a great knack of reaching those kids and those kids are playing very, very hard for what he wants to have done."
That guy is Spanos, who came to UConn in January with a wealth of coaching experience at both the NFL and college levels – including lengthy stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans of the NFL and UCLA and, most recently, Alabama in college.
"My job is to put our players the ability to understand the opponents' offense, their tendencies and also be fundamentally sound and do proper technique in running to the ball and do all the stuff we ask them as coaches," Spanos said. "I am going to ask 110 percent and get the most out of the players."
Spanos, however, remained tight-lipped when it came to talking about his defensive schemes and the alignments his defense will use.
"Our defense will be passionate," he said. "We're going to fly around and we're going to have fun."
The defensive players, however, have put their trust in Spanos.
"He's a great leader," said sophomore defensive lineman Caleb Thomas. "I feel like he will win us some games. We buy into him. He definitely knows what he's talking about, so if we just listen to him and follow his plan, we're going to be a very successful defense."Â
Whether or not the defensive schemes have undergone wholesale changes is not as important as the improvement of the players executing them.
"There may be just some minor adjustments here and there," Coyle said. "But it's important that we're all on the same page, be focused and ready for the season. This off-season, we've been doing a lot of seven-on-seven, going over concepts and plays, so everybody should be on the same page already. We're focused on 2019, no other year."
If the UConn defense is going to show overall improvement, the defensive line clearly has to make major strides. That's exactly what the linemen intend to do, according to Thomas (Mansfield, Texas), who started the final 10 games on the defensive line last season.
"I feel that we now have a better knowledge of what we need to do to be successful because we played and we saw it firsthand," Thomas said. "We've put in more time in the film room and everything else. The biggest difference is, guys are more comfortable with their assignments, so they are playing looser. We've lost the nerves we had as young players last year.
"We say in the defensive meeting room, 'Onward and Upward.' We can't dwell on what happened last year, we have a whole season coming up. We're putting ourselves in the best position and that's come from the work in the weight room and on the field."
Thomas thinks the defense has a whole new demeanor.
"There's a whole new attitude about how we attack things," he explained. "Instead of, 'We have to do this,' we take it to the next level – like we don't just have to do this, we have to do this the best we can. I think that's been adopted throughout the whole team."
Early-season success would be a tremendous boost, especially for the defense, as the Huskies move into the 2019 season.
"If we can play these first few games well, especially with the two Big 10 teams (Illinois, Indiana) we're playing, it would set the tone for the rest of the season," Thomas said. "We're not going to overlook Wagner (season opener), though. They are going to look to knock us off. We just have to be focused every week."
That begins with the Huskies' season opener, when they play host to Wagner on Aug. 29 at Rentschler Field at Pratt & Whitney Stadium.
